​Getting rid of toxins on rugs and carpet can be very tricky because you need a vacuum cleaner that not only removes dirt, but filters out microscopic toxic particles you don’t see. Did you know that toxins can ‘ride’ on dust and linger around in our homes? Getting rid of these toxins are critical for homeowners to keep their carpets consistently cleaned. Vacuuming regularly is extremely important even if it looks clean due to the toxins hiding in the dust! A great strategy to vacuum is to start on the upper level of your home (if you have one) and go to the farthest corner of the back room vacuuming from left to right. This strategy helps with not missing spots in your carpet where dust and bacteria can hide. If you have the time, a great way to vacuum is go in the opposite direction, from right to left instead. It might seem like a lot of work, but it’s a great way to get embedded dirt, dust, pet hair, and dander out of your carpet. It will help keep your lines evident so you know where you have vacuumed. Knowing where you have already vacuumed helps remove the embedded dirt and dust more effectively and thoroughly. These strategies for vacuuming are ways to easily remove visible dirt keeping your carpet cleaned efficiently. Mark’s Cleaning Service offers a full house cleaning for every room to get thoroughly vacuumed as well as bathrooms, kitchens, utility rooms and basements! Give us a call to schedule your next house cleaning! 

​Did you know that there are several myths to carpet cleaning? Without regular deep cleaning and surface cleaning, your carpets are more susceptible to germs even than a toilet seat! Most carpet contains 200,000 bacteria per square inch on average. This means carpet is technically a thousand times germ-ier than a toilet seat! The myth you often hear is that your carpet is dirtier than a toilet seat – correction; typical carpet roughly contains 200,000 bacteria per square inch! Meaning carpets are at least 4,000 times more than a toilet seat! Another myth about carpet is that it can hide a pound of dirt per yard and still look clean. The scary truth is how much bacteria already hides in your carpet about to 200,000 bacteria per square inch and still look clean! On top of daily tracks of living (food crumbs, pollen, dirt from shoes, pet urine, and coffee spills) vacuuming and treating spills only cleans the visible dirt. Only a professional carpet cleaning can truly remove all of the bacteria that you don’t see! Mark’s Cleaning Service can provide you with a deep, detailed-steam cleaning and remove all harmful allergens, bacteria, and dirt embedded deep in your fibers. Call us today to schedule a free estimate! 

​Carpets can get dirty very easily if they are not cleaned regularly. Vacuuming regularly can only get the noticeable dirt off, but what are some good tips to keep them clean all the time? Making a ‘no shoes’ rule can reduce outside contaminants from entering your home. Asking visitors, friends and family to leave their shoes by the front door is a great tip to keep your carpets cleaned, especially during cold winter months. If you have pets and they go to the bathroom on your carpets, treat them immediately, don’t let it sit for a long period of time. Treat any type of stain immediately, that includes food spills and coffee stains. The longer the stains are not treated, the more problematic it is to get out. Another tip on keeping your carpet clean is to protect your floors and carpeting by placing a doormat next to each entrance. During the winter, snow, salt, and slush can get tracked in your home and make a huge mess. Having two doormats (one outside and one inside) can keep your carpets from getting dirty (one outside to wipe your shoes on, one inside to take them off). If you have pets, wiping off their paws from a rainy or snowy day can prevent wet mud from the rain or slush from snow tracking all over your home. Washing your dog on occasion also is an easy way to keep your carpets cleaned. It prevents dirt tracking room to room where your dogs like to play and sleep. Getting your carpets professionally cleaned can remove all of the bacteria, dirt, allergens and dog stains leaving your carpet fresh and clean. Give us a call at Mark’s Cleaning Service for a free estimate on your next carpet cleaning!

Area Rug Cleaning Blog
When shopping for new area rugs to decorate your home, there are a few important factors to consider. Size, color, shape, and more importantly durability. Size up the room and the area you want to cover. The most common area rug sizes are 8-by-10, 6-by-9 and 4-by-6 feet. Smaller rugs may be used for smaller spaces—a hearth, under a coffee table or a bedside. When it comes to color, it’s important to choose a rug to match the colors of your furnishings. While you decorate, the style of your room should determine your rugs shape. You do not always need to be limited to rectangular rugs. Sometimes an octagonal-shaped or circular rug can add elegance and flair. When it comes to area rugs, wool is usually a preferred choice over synthetics since it is more resistant to traffic patterns and wear. Wool has many amazing qualities such as deep, rich color tones, and most importantly, high durability. But not all rugs are manufactured the same way.

​Depending how your rug was manufactured will determine how long it may last. Certain manufacturing methods can cause complications during cleaning. So it is important to purchase your rug from a quality manufacturer. If you shop at any of today’s popular interior furnishing stores, you will notice a majority of jute backed rugs advertised as 100% wool. Jute is a fast growing biodegradable plant fiber, so there’s no question why manufacturers commonly use jute for a cheap alternative to cotton. Jute it is known for cellulose browning, retaining odors and dry rot. When jute becomes wet from cleaning, oils are released that cause browning and discoloration that will ruin your rug. (See image above of jute cellulose browning that has wicked to facing wool fibers)  Lately jute fiber has become cheap and plentiful, commonly wool rugs manufactured in India are woven with jute backing. India is the world’s #1 jute cultivator

Although size, color, shape and durability are important, using multiple area rugs can often add more decorative elegance. But why use two rugs? One rug is preferred as it coordinates the room together. However, sometimes two or more rugs complement each other and add style. The rugs having similar style in at least one of the three categories (design, color, size) will add to the interior design of your home making it welcoming. If you have a large room, having more than one rug can be used to separate the room adding contrast. Each design of both rugs should contrast each other to partition the room. However, it should be similar in color and in quality to maintain balance.

With regular use, your area rugs will get dirty. Foot traffic, food crumbs, dust, and pet stains can make this worse. Your rug loses its decorative style, smells bad, and it’s hard to keep when people complain about the odor. Especially if it’s a wool rug, wool can smell like a wet dog once it’s damp. We recommend having your rugs cleaned regularly to decrease odors and allergens! Dirt and dust trapped in between the fibers can often cause allergies if you wait too long to have it cleaned, regular cleaning will also help maintain your rug’s appearance.  We offer various methods to get your rug cleaned. Our hot water extraction method is great for cleaning light soiling, however, for rugs with strong odors or pet stains, our rug bath is recommended. ​

​Winter has arrived which means snow, slush, and ice. Often, slippery driveways mean they need salt to prevent slipping and cars sliding down causing accidents. The salt products people use can track in white residue and damage floors inside homes. At Mark’s Cleaning Service, we offer maid service to detail clean your home, removing all salt from entrances leaving your home spotless! Our maid service team follows the ‘Clean for Health’ program to detail clean your kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms, bedrooms, showers, family rooms, living rooms, and basements! The benefit of ‘Clean for Health’ program is that your house gets cleaned with a strong focus on the details that are often overlooked. We have a stellar, 30 plus year reputation for residential cleaning due to our meticulous attention to detail in our ‘Clean for Health’ program.

​At Mark’s Cleaning Service, we offer high quality carpet cleaning to make sure you are ready for the holidays. We perform an exclusive deep carpet cleaning process designed to go WAY beyond what most cleaners do. Upon entering your home, our technicians apply shoe covers and move furniture in order to clean hard-to-reach areas. The cleaning process we use to clean your carpet is hot water extraction and the reason it is beneficial is because verified in research, for every 18-degree increase in water temperature above 118 degrees F you double the cleaning ability. Our truck mounted vacuum uses strong suction and hot water cleaning solution to draw the dirt, chemicals, bacteria, pollens, and other residue out of your carpet so it looks as good as new! The system we use is designed to steam clean and dry FAST, removing maximum soil. We give you the best of both worlds of truck mounted steam cleaning and turbo fast drying.

​Oriental rugs should be cleaned every 2 to 3 years, depending on the type of rug and foot traffic. Vacuuming can only clean the visible dirt, not the deep fibers of your rug. Getting your rug professionally cleaned periodically can extend the life of you rug and keep it healthy. Here at Mark’s Cleaning Service, we also remove stubborn dirt and dust. If not properly and periodically removed, dust can cause a lot of damage. Sometimes vacuuming cannot reach deep down into the fibers and remove dust; that is why we offer a full submersion spa treatment rug baths to effectively clean the deepest bacteria and dirt hiding in your rug! We first pre-vacuum your rug to remove loose soils and particulates. Then your rug is placed in our bath filled with fresh, clean water and neutral detergents. Once the rug is fully submerged under water, we use a machine to agitate with an ultra-soft brush to comb in throughout the rug fibers. Upon your request, we apply Teflon treatment to protect your rug after the cleaning process. 

​Fresh clean air is essential to any healthy home considering that the average person spends 87% of their time indoors. The majority of dust and debris comes from your air ducts and allergies can be irritated if your air ducts are filled with dust.  Your indoor air quality may be related to irritants found within your heating and cooling system, on top of all the dust in your air ducts, this can cause indoor air pollution in your own home! Indoor air pollution is a growing public health hazard with negative effects on millions of people around the globe.  Mark's Cleaning Service can give you peace of mind. We don't just clean air ducts, we also restore heating and air conditioning systems to superior cleanliness.